1. Field of the Invention
The subject matter described herein relates generally to devices and methods for entertaining guests and, more particularly, to positioning guests on a ride.
2. Related Art
Currently, log flume boats for entertainment venues such as theme parks and the like do not include guest positioning devices, e.g. restraints or lap bars, for positioning guests within a seat. In general, these log flume boats are single-wide and thus have a narrow hull which provides insufficient space for accommodating known guest positioning devices.
Known guest positioning devices in addition to requiring a substantially larger space than is available in a log flume boat, have a relatively high cost and are overly complex and heavy. For example, a known guest positioning device as found on the Jurassic Park River Attraction at Universal Studios, Islands of Adventure, is relatively heavy and requires a substantial amount of room for installation on each vehicle. This is a very heavy structure constructed to absorb many forces created by five seats across and five rows of guests in one vehicle and a relatively large and complex one as it includes a ratchet shaft connected with block ratcheting device that stands on a tower built in the boat. While most suitable for its intended purposes, it is relatively heavy and requires a substantial amount of room to accommodate.
Also, known complex guest positioning devices for land vehicles include discreet positions for locking the lap bars. It has been found that the discreet positions do not comfortably accommodate all guests since the range of sizes of guests attending the park is very large.
Accordingly, to date, no suitably light weight and compact device or method of positioning guests in a log flume boat is available.